Terence Crutcher was murdered only days before Scott by an officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Crutcher was unarmed and Scott is believed to have been unarmed by his family, supporters and activists nationwide. Neither Scott nor Crutcher posed a deadly threat to the officers that shot and killed them.

Crutcher’s killer was indicted on charges of manslaughter. For Scott, there’s pushback surfacing from the Police Department alleging Scott was armed, had a “marijuana cigarette” and pointed a gun at the officers. Scott’s widow said he was sitting in his car reading a book while waiting on his son to get off the school bus.

Parked in an unmarked car, officers were waiting to serve another person a warrant. The officers forced Scott out of his vehicle while they were out of uniform with guns drawn. As the victim backed up away from the officers that had guns pointed at him, he was shot four times.

Riots and protests ignited in Charlotte and in Atlanta. In solidarity, Oregon supporters joined the movement. But, what happens now is barely a headline in mainstream press. A North Carolina law goes into effect on October 1st that allows law enforcement officers to not have to release body or dash cam videos to the public and press unless a judge rules otherwise.

I’ve tossed and turned watching video after video of the shootings wondering what in the world could have triggered a deadly response from those officers. As I so often do, I jumped up in the middle of the night and wrote down six things I think we can do as a unit to help move keep our brothers and sisters safe from the very people we trust to protect us.

We must make a pledge to stop taking the “black candidate” bait. It doesn’t matter if the President, Chief of Police, State Attorney or Officer is black. If we are still being murdered by law enforcement, what difference does it make? If our needs are not met, what have we achieved? We need to make a promise to each other that we will elect people, not just because of their race, but because of what they’ve stood for and what they’ve done for our people. Many white people have also stood behind us in this struggle. It is unfair to not realize their dedication to our lives and the lives of our brethren. I don’t care if you’re black or if you’re female, if you haven’t fought against injustice, you have not earned my vote. I screamed this from the top of my lungs during past elections and people stared at me as if I had just turned purple before their eyes. We gift wrap our votes to politicians because they smile, have hot sauce in their purse or kiss our babies. Miss me with all of that. I’d rather you show me what you’ve done. To sum it up, I am nobody’s firewall unless you are proven to have been mine.

We must force resignations of crooked leaders but don’t stop there. If they are not serving us they way they should, they have to step down. I believe the Charlotte Chief of Police should resign now. There’s way too much in the videos that have been released, showing they’ve not only lied but appear to have placed a weapon at the scene of the shooting of Scott. When there is civil unrest that has, in turn, lead to the death of yet another young black protestor named Justin Carr, law enforcement has failed us yet again. They are not even keeping the protestors safe. The day Carr was killed, law enforcement protecting protestors was at a minimum. Let me be clear, a resignation doesn’t fix the situation. Properly vetting and being active in the selection of the person who takes that vacant office and changing the law will significantly help. The Governor signed legislation stopping police videos from being shown in the public. This further ignites the narrative that we are being sold a lie. If we continue to allow politicians to pull wool over our eyes with these kind of laws, then we’ve bought into the madness with the blood of black men like Scott and Crutcher. Let’s not stop there. With a fine tooth comb, we must go through all of the legislation that impacts us.

We must demand Full Transparency and then read it. The law is an open book that no one is reading. The facts are an open book that no one is reading. The officers had no qualms about shooting these men in public. They should explain it in public. There’s no reason why the public and the press should not see each and every detail in situations that matter most to us. We live in the age of information. Nothing needs to be added or taken away from the details of any situation. It may inflame the community but it may also even settle the community. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t know the truth behind every story that impacts our people.

Candidly and kindly expose those candidates, elected and appointed officials who have not supported the struggle. Recently, a Central Florida attorney celebrated the victory of her client’s sentencing. Noel Carter received a light sentence in court on Monday. Carter was found guilty of a felony. He could have taken a plea deal, before taxpayers spent money on his trial and ended this the exact same way. But, the attorney and activists at the head of this case wanted national attention and pushed to get just that. When they didn’t, and when they lost the trial, they came back and wanted a deal that was likely put before them the first time. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy he didn’t get time in prison. The case was complicated, but the facts and the law remain clear. We don’t have to be nasty to tell someone they aren’t serving us properly, but we sure had better tell them. If we elect an official or support the appointment of a community leader or hire an attorney, we have the right to praise them when they are good and expose them when they are bad. It’s just that simple. There are no friends in the game when people are being gunned down in cold blood. We must also pressure the Press to use the Freedom of Information Act. Journalists are like little elected officials. They are supposed to serve their readers and increase readership. Tell us what you want to see covered and suggest how and we’ll take it from there. Force us to ask the hardball questions. Today, many cannot speak out on social media for fear their employers may punish them for their views. Let us be your voice. Real journalists are unapologetically and unafraid to do our jobs. We don’t back down and we don’t lose any sleep if people in prominent positions hate us. Our job is journalism. Our brand is truth-telling. I couldn’t care any less who doesn’t like the truth I write. My job is to write it.

Push the Senate NOW to approve the nominee by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court of the United States. Breaking News…Antonin Scalia is dead. He’s gone, people. That means there’s a seat open on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Scalia is rejoicing in Heaven, hopefully, while we are here trying to decipher the Constitution and the current Supreme Court is slammed with more cases than they can handle. They not only need another Justice to help with that, we need that Justice to help us. Scalia was a conservative whose views differ vastly from ours. The Supreme Court is where the laws are made about what can be enforced on our streets and in our courtrooms. The law doesn’t start and end with a Judge, attorney or a State Attorney. We keep marching in circles, confused and wondering why people can get a slap on the wrist for murdering our brethren and we are fighting the wrong battles. We are still trying to get people to like or love us and hopefully that will solve our problems on the streets. News alert. That’s not happening. Cut them off at the knees with what America has already put on paper as the law of the land and force them to put a Justice in an open seat that will interpret the law in such a way that we are no longer treated as cattle. This way, when it comes down to our level, we are protected and people who hurt and kill us are punished for their crime.

Stop letting Pastors, community and caucus leaders take you down the wrong path. All of us have elected officials that represent us. There’s no reason why we can’t pick the phone up and call them. We can also be quick to believe the mess that comes out of the mouths of people in the pulpit, that we get caught up trying to decipher scripture from the law. They are two separate things and we shouldn’t be crossing the streams. Let your pastor be your pastor and when they start holding debates and talking about elections, vet them, if you choose to stay and listen. Once they cross that political line, they deserve to be treated and handled like politicos. Let them choose if they want to be a Pastor or a Politician. Most of them have no clue as to what they are talking about. Shut them down, shut them up and ask them to get back to scripture or go study political science before they misuse their voices.

In a recent campaign stop in Miami, Presidential hopeful Donald Trump challenged Hillary Clinton to “disarm her bodyguards and let’s see what happens then.” Whatever that means and for whatever reason he said it, it captured headlines.

It has nothing to do with poverty, crime, policing our streets, foreign policy, the national debt or any other issue in which a Presidential candidate should be focused.

On the other hand, Jimmy Fallon of NBC’s Tonight Show welcomed a recently sick Hillary Clinton right after he put a face mask over his nose and mouth pretending (or not) to be protecting himself from her recent bout with pneumonia.

In the press, neither candidate is strongly focused on the issues that should matter to Americans and Democrats don’t have enough collective intelligence to stop blaming Progressives to demand a race that is concentrated.

Many Democrats are “Clinton-Splaining” Hillary to many who support a progressive agenda. That discussion, all to often, seem to be a bloody battle leaving a long list of casualties in its path. Trying to instill fear in a millennial is like trying to move a sleeping rhinoceros from your pool deck. Die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters are unafraid of Donald Trump and they see both Presidential candidates as much of the same.

Stick with me here and trust me on this.

Many Progressives would rather see a Trump Presidency than a Clinton Presidency at this point. Here’s why.

In the eyes of many Berners, the nomination was like taking candy from a baby. Having Trump as President is payback for some who feel Bernie Sanders was cheated out of the nod from the Democratic Party and treated unfairly on the campaign trail. Many Berners also feel they were disenfranchised as well. So, largely, threats have not and are still not working.

The press surrounding the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington D.C. was less than exciting with the exception of former Orlando police chief and United States Candidate for Congress, Val Demings’ statement on Donald Trump’s announcement that President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

On MSNBC, Demings said, “Donald Trump is not the best that America has to offer. At a time when people are hurting, they’re struggling, they’re suffering, they’re afraid, instead of coming up with solutions that will make peoples’ lives better and improve the quality of life for Americans, Donald Trump is doing everything he can do divide. He’s a hater, he’s a bigot and he’s a racist.”
The press was also understandably overshadowed by the recent New York and New Jersey bombings.

Even without these urgent press events, the coverage surrounding the Congressional Black Caucus had no strong angle and no strong vocal communications to the press that would circumvent national news away from Trump except that of the President’s appearance and speech.

However, Donald Trump, is a master of manipulation and while the Congressional Black Caucus was kicking off, he managed to call a press conference, speak live on television, online and radio, for 20 minutes or more about his new hotel. Then he dropped the golden pinky-swear, that our POTUS actually was born in the United States after years of demanding President Obama show his birth certificate. Imagine that.

The press fell for it hook, line and sinker while Trump used earned media to get the attention of not only Republicans but Democrats as well.

This election is an embarrassment to our nation as a unit, to individuals who believe in democracy and to those who are too busy to be consumed by the details of politics on a daily basis while they entrust the democratic process to those who professionally and voluntarily lead it.

News outlets then leaned-in while Hillary Clinton called half of Trump’s supporters deplorable. Again, none of this has anything to do with the state of this country. It’s all ego-driven and seems more like a popularity contest than a campaign that should be designed to work best for the American people. It’s an insult.

Neither candidate has been strong on the issues and only one knows how to garner press and when he does, he parades his hotels and steaks in front of the camera and we, the press, shamefully, admire it, cover it and can’t get enough of it.

Even while Clinton was ill, the campaign handed Trump the press while they still allowed Clinton to do phone interviews from her sick bed. With all the excited Democrats down-ballot and the big one who’s elected at the top, the Hillary camp sat silent for 1.5 to two days after Hillary stumbled into that van while Orange Hitler, aka Donald Trump, (in the words of Bill Maher), took center stage and dominated the polls.

Finally, President Obama came out and stomped for Hillary telling the crowd how much he loves her. He said it like he was being forced to eat peas and if he said it loud enough and convincing enough, that he may just convey to the American people that he does like Hillary.

Let’s face it, this is a lackluster, pasty, election and we are all trying so hard to keep focused on who we need to vote for in November and most importantly, why we must vote for them. So far, we haven’t seen much of why we need to be so passionate in this election except the “fear” component, which seems to be the only backup plan each party is using to sway voters.
Again, on MSNBC, Bernie Sanders made an appeal to millennials, “Before you cast a protest vote, think hard about it.”

As a supervoter, I will listen to that appeal and as always, think hard about who I will vote for this election cycle and why even though my faith in the process fits the mold of many Progressives who are not consumed with fear from either party or candidate. Equally as important, I’m concerned with why the vacancy is still open on the Supreme Court of the United States and why we are not fighting as a party and as the press, to allow our sitting President to appoint someone to the seat(s) that remain vacant.

Rhetta Peoples is the CEO of a thriving boutique advertising, grassroots marketing and crisis public relations firm based in Orlando. She is also a journalist for the Black Press, a political expert, a Mom, a wife and a black woman meeting success head-on in Orlando.

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Rhetta Peoples is the CEO of a thriving boutique advertising, grassroots marketing and crisis public relations firm based in Orlando. She is also a journalist for the Black Press, a political expert, a Mom, a wife and a black woman meeting success head-on in Orlando.